05/10/07 Get-out briefs, wps

Mrs. Potts (Amanda Summers, left) and Madame de la Grande Bouche (Suzanne Oakley) think their curse could be over when Belle comes to the Beast’s castle in Tupelo Community Theatre’s production of “Beauty and the Beast.” The play will be staged at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday and 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Lyric Theatre. Tickets are $20/adults and $10/children. Call (662) 844-1935 to learn more.

Sugar, Spice, Strength

Art by Stan O’Dell

Oxford artist Stan O’Dell considers the power of women with his new exhibit, “Feminine Mystique,” a collection of paintings that often depict women as forces to be reckoned with. The work, including “Fire Goddess” ABOVE?, will be on display at Oxford’s Southside Gallery until June 2. There will be a free reception from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday. To learn more, call (662) 234-9090 or visit www.southsideartgallery.com.

TUPELO

Watch ol’ Bandit run’

A crush of Trans Ams will travel to Tupelo on Tuesday for “The Bandit Run,” a celebration of the 30th anniversary of Burt Reynolds’ movie, “Smokey and the Bandit.”

Matt Persbacker and members of the Heart of Dixie Firebird Association will welcome between 50 to 75 Trans Ams to town Tuesday night.

On Wednesday morning, the cars will travel to the Tupelo Automobile Museum, and folks are invited out to take a look until 1 p.m.

So, Persbacker, do you expect to see any cheesy mustaches like Reynold’s wore?

“I think you’ll see one or two,” he said.

For more about this trip from Texas to Tupelo to Georgia, check the Web at www.motortopia.com/groups/view/id/210/i/bandit_run.

Festival winner bound for Sundance Channel

The Tupelo Film Festival will open with a free screening of “Plaques and Pleasures on the Salton Sea” at 9:15 p.m. Wednesday at Vanelli’s.

The movie earned Chris Metzler the festival’s 2005 Best Feature Documentary award, and it’ll air on Sundance Channel in June. Metzler will be on hand to answer questions. Maria y el Sol will perform at 7 p.m.

There’s also still time to get reduced rates for festival workshops:

n 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. May 18 – Roger Sherman, “My Life in Documentaries: How to Do it Today,” DanceQuest Ballroom Studio. $15 by Thursday May 10, then $25.

n 2 to 5 p.m. May 18 – Peter Abraham, “The Lens in the Three Dimensional World: Why We Love to Move the Camera,” DanceQuest Ballroom. $15 by Thursday May 10, then $25.

The Warrior Performers will present Rudyard Kipling’s “The Jungle Book” at 8 p.m. Friday at the Pontotoc Junior High School auditorium.

The cast is made up of fifth- and sixth-grade students. Tickets are $4/adults and $2/students. Learn more by calling (662) 489-2479.

CORINTH

Dickinson show goes on the road

The Crossroads Playhouse will present “The Belle of Amherst,” a one-woman play about the life and art of Emily Dickinson.

The play was originally produced in fall of 2006 by Northeast Mississippi Community College’s Theatre Department. Allyson Cartwright will reprise her role as the reclusive Dickinson, who wrote with sly humor and heartbreaking despair.

It’ll be staged at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and tickets are $10. Call (662) 287-2995.